The Northeast-10 Conference Cross-Country Championships will be held Sunday at Saint Anselm, which just so happens to be Assumption junior Tony Fierimonte's favorite course.

"It's hilly and it's grueling," said Fierimonte, a Northboro resident who was a T&G Super Team pick his senior year at Algonquin Regional, "but it's not impossible."

In three previous races on St. A's 8K tract, Fierimonte hasn't finished lower than third. He won there earlier this fall despite taking a slight detour.

At the Shacklette Invitational, the Greyhounds' opening meet of the season, Fierimonte and the other 20 runners in the lead group took a wrong turn around the midway mark. They realized their mistake when they looked back and saw the pack curving in a different direction.

"Then we all turned around and sprinted back," Fierimonte said.

He regrouped after the 30-second re-route and won the event in 27:27.9.

It was the start of what has been a terrific season so far for Fierimonte, who has helped lead a resurgence of the Assumption cross-country program under first-year coach Stacie Wentz. The Greyhounds are ranked sixth in this week's regional poll.

Fierimonte was a U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches (USTFCCA) All-Region selection last year, the runaway winner of the Worcester City Championships, and the 2011 Assumption Male Freshman Athlete of the Year after posting three top-three performances.

This summer, he switched up his training routine, focusing more on pacing and flexibility than on strength training as in the past.

"For most of my runs, I was just going out and exerting myself too much," Fierimonte said, "and for the most part, I wasn't feeling that good after a run. But this summer, using a heart rate monitor and a GPS watch, I knew exactly what I was doing and I felt great. Every run was something to look forward to."

Fierimonte capped his summer by finishing 46th out of 12,000 runners at the Falmouth Road Race, the picturesque 7.1-mile run that begins in Woods Hole and ends in Falmouth Heights.

Two weeks after winning the Shacklette Invitational, Fierimonte finished second at the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational in 25:01 — 22 seconds faster than his previous personal best.

"I feel faster and a lot stronger this year," he said.

Fierimonte is considered among the favorites for the NE-10 Championships.

Fierimonte began his high school athletics career as a soccer player. He didn't survive final cuts as a junior, and at the encouragement of his mom, he joined the cross-country team. As a senior, he finished sixth at the Central Mass. Division 1 Championships and was named his team's MVP.

Fierimonte is also a member of Assumption's indoor and outdoor track and field teams.

Milestone for Krysil

Leominster resident and former St. John's High hockey captain Thomas Krysil set the Navy all-time points record with his two-goal, two-assist performance in last week's win over Towson.

Krysil, who now has 234 career points, surpassed J.D. Walker, who had 230 points from 2000-04.

"It's a tremendous honor to have reached this milestone," Krysil said. "I really cannot stress enough how I would not have made it this far without my teammates. They share a huge part in this record."

Krysil's mom, Cara, was on hand at McMullen Arena in Annapolis to see him break the record.

Krysil, who scored 101 goals the last two seasons, has nine goals and 12 assists through nine games this year. Navy, a Division 1 club team that plays in the American College Hockey Association, is 6-3.

Southall new Elms coach

After eight seasons as an assistant on Chris Bartley's staff at WPI, Rob Southall has been named men's basketball coach at Elms College.

Southall was part of a great run of success at WPI. During his time with the Engineers, they went 178-44, won six NEWMAC regular-season titles and two NEWMAC tournament championships, and made six NCAA appearances.

"There were many tears shed on the campus of WPI because Rob has had such a positive impact on the WPI community in his role as an assistant coach the past eight years," Bartley said. "It is always emotional when someone fulfills their dream, especially when you know how much that individual has earned that dream. Our team will miss him tremendously, but he has made a lasting imprint on our program."

At Elms, Southall inherits a team that has had nine consecutive 18-win seasons.

Stearns a late bloomer

Bruce Stearns was 31 years old when he re-enrolled in college at Worcester State in 1986, joined the track and field team, and showed he still had it as a standout sprinter and hurdler.

"I remember a meet at the U.S. Military Academy," Stearns recalled recently. "I ran out there and one of the kids in the (55-meter hurdles) race came up to me and said, 'It's nice to see you older people running in these meets and keeping in good shape.' After I beat him, he wasn't too happy about the whole thing."

His first year at Worcester State, Stearns set school records in the 55- and 100-meter hurdles and was the New England Division 3 champion in the 55-meter hurdles.

On Friday, Stearns, who grew up in Worcester and graduated from Doherty High, will be inducted with four others into the Worcester State Athletics Hall of Fame.

"I was shocked," Stearns said when he heard of his induction. "It really took me by surprise."

Stearns has continued as a vital member of the area track and field circuit. Since 1981, he has served as a women's track and field assistant at Holy Cross.

Contact Jennifer Tolandat jtoland@telegram.com.

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